What Happened To The Twin City
by Indy1
Summary: How the Twincity was destroyed, and what happened afterwards
1. Default Chapter

What Happened To The Twin City

**What Happened To The Twin City**

'Dot, are you sure Enzo can stay the night?' Dot rolled her eyes. 'Mum, you already asked that ten times. You know I'll take good care of him. Besides, we'll be at the Diner most of the evening, before we go to my apartment. You can contact us anytime you want.'  
Ferra, the female sprite with gold skin and red hair, bend over and hugged her daughter. 'I know Dot. I'm sorry. It's just that it's Enzo's first time out, so I'm a bit worried.' Dot hugged her back. 'Don't be Mum. It'll be just alphanumeric.' Ferra looked at Dot. 'I wish you two'd stop that adolescent talk. It gets on my nerves.' Dot smiled.  
'Where is Enzo anyway? If we want to reach the Diner before the end of the cycle, its about time we leave.' Ferra looked at her daughter. 'You sound just like me, Dotty.' Then she frowned. 'I think he's at the stables, with your dad. Come on, let's go and get them.' The two sprites got on their zipboards and zipboarded in the direction of the sportssector.

'Come on, Enzo, I just know you'd like riding, if you only tried.' Enzo sat on the fence, while his father, a tall sprite with green skin and black hair, walked around the manege on a brown horse with a white blaze. Enzo made a face. 'Dad, you know I don't like horses. Well, I like them as long as I'm on the ground, but I am not even thinking about getting on the back of one of them. Not even Robin's.' The brown horse pricked up his ears when he heard his name, and looked at Enzo. James stopped the horse in front of Enzo, and it put its head in Enzo's lap. The young sprite rubbed the horse's head, and gently talked to it. 'I know Robin, you're really sweet, but I'm just not brave enough to ride, not after Dot fell of that other horse.' He looked at his father. 'Dad, how important is the experiment you and Mum are going to do tonight?' James shrugged. 'If it works, it can be really useful to the cities. If it doesn't, well, it's to bad.' He got his feet from the stirrups and stepped on the ground. 'Come on Enzo, let's put Robin in his stable for the night.' Enzo jumped from the fence and got hold of Robin's reins. 'Come on boy.'  
As they walked to the stables, Ferra and Dot approached the two men. 'Daddy!' Dot jumped of her zipboard and ran the last two steps to her father, before she fell him around his neck. James laughed and kissed his daughter on the forehead. 'Hi Dotty. Party tonight, my girl?' Dot made a face. 'No Daddy. We have to work hard at the Diner and then go to sleep.' 'Ah, Dot!' Enzo halted Robin and gave his sister a disappointed look. Dot smiled at her brother and gave him a wink. Immediately Enzo smiled again. Dot stepped towards the horse and rubbed his head. 'Hi boy. How are you?' Robin snorted and lowered his head so Dot could rub behind his ears. 'I'll take him, Enzo.' Dot got the reins from her brother and took the horse to the stables. James, Ferra and Enzo slowly followed them. Enzo wriggled his head under his mother's arm. 'Mum, is the experiment dangerous?' Ferra hugged her son. 'Only if we're not careful, Enzo. And we will be careful, trust me.' Enzo put his head reassured in his mother's side.

Dot had put Robin in his loosebox and had put away his saddle and bridle. Now she was leaning to the door and gently stroked his head. The horse had put his chin on her shoulder and had his eyes half-closed. Dot gently spoke to him. 'I'm sorry boy, you know I love you, I just sort of lost my nerves when Libby threw me of.' With one finger, Dot rubbed her collarbone. She could still feel the spot where it had been broken. When her parents and Enzo entered the stable, she stopped talking. 'Come on Enzo, let's go.' She gently removed Robin's head from her shoulder and walked towards her family. James put his arms around Dot's shoulders. 'We'll go to the Labs now. If there is anything, just call us. You know the number.' Dot nodded. 'Yes Dad.' Then she turned to Ferra. 'Mum, is there anything that can go wrong with the experiment?' Ferra gave her a mocking look. 'What is this? Don't you two trust us or something?' Dot smiled and got hold of her mother's hand. 'We're just worried. I wouldn't know what I would do without you.'

'Ah, Madame, welcome back!' Cecil held open the door of the Diner, so Dot and Enzo could walk in. Enzo looked around. 'You sure have made a lot of improvements since the last time I was here.' Dot nodded. 'I know. It's been hard work, but I think it was worth it.' She walked to one of the booths and sat down. Enzo followed her example and sat down opposite of his sister. 'Well, would you like an energyshake?' Enzo nodded enthusiastically. 'So, what are we going to do tonight?' Dot shrugged. 'I don't know. What do you want to do?' Enzo gave his sister an innocent look. 'Play a Game?' Dot turned her eyes to the heavens. 'Enzo, you know I don't like Games.' Enzo grinned. 'I didn't exactly mean a Game, but something like a board game. Monopoly or something.' Dot smiled. 'Okay, you nut. Monopoly it'll be.'

'James, do you think it's fair we didn't tell the children how dangerous this experiment is? I have a bad feeling about it.' Ferra raised her safety goggles and looked at her husband. He returned her gaze and raised his goggles as well. 'Ferra, if you have any doubts, we should not do this tonight. You know it'll be too dangerous if you're distracted.' Ferra looked worried. 'It was almost as if they knew it.' James gave her a stern look. 'Ferra, stop it. If you think it's too dangerous, we won't do it. If you think we should still do it, put your mind to it and stop worrying about the kids.' He looked at his wife. 'All right?' Ferra sighed. 'Okay.' They both lowered their safety goggles and got back to what they had been doing.

'Haha, Dot, you're on my Baudway. I've two living quarters, so that makes three thousand units.' Dot sighed and gave her little brother her last three notes of a thousand units. Enzo had won the game. 'Shall we call Mum and Dad before we go to sleep?' Enzo nodded. 'But I get to call. I won the game.' Dot smiled. 'Alright then.' She reached out for her organizer, which lay on the table next to them, and gave it to Enzo. 'You do know how to call, don't you? I don't want you to mess up my files.' Enzo gave her an angry look. 'Of course I know how to call.' He pushed a few keys and got the numeral pad with which he could call. He dialed the five numbers of the Lab department, and got his mother's face in focus. 'Hi Enzo! How nice you call!' 'Hi Mum. How is the experiment coming along?' Ferra made a face. 'Well, the preparations are almost finished. Just a few nano's and we'll be able to execute the real thing.' 'Okay. I love you, Mum. Here's Dot.'  
Enzo gave the organizer back to his sister. 'Hi Mum. Is everything going according to plan?' 'Yes, sort of. It's not too bad. Don't worry Dotty. I have to go now. Remember, I love you, and Daddy loves you too. Wherever we are. Bye now!' Ferra disconnected, and left Enzo and Dot startled. Dot shrugged. 'Oh well. Come on Enzo, it's time to go to sleep.' Enzo nodded, and followed his sister to the bedroom.

'Okay Ferra, this is it.' James had raised his safety goggles and looked at his wife, who stood at the other side of the workstation. The whole evening, they had been busy on the preparations for the experiment, and now they were finished and ready for the real thing.  
Ferra smiled, a little tense. 'James, I love you.' He smiled. 'If anything goes wrong, just remember I will always love you, wherever I am.' The corners of Ferra's mouth started to tremble. She walked around the table and put her arms around her husband. For a moment, they stood motionless, before they parted and resumed their places at the workstation.  
'Are you ready?' Ferra nodded. 'Let's do it.' James inclined his head, and reached for the switch.

Dot woke up with a shock. She lifted her head and wondered what had woken her. She frowned. There was nothing. She put her blanket aside and stepped from her bed. Enzo was sleeping tight. He murmured softly in his sleep, and turned to his other side.  
Dot gently stroked his hair from his face and smiled. She loved her little brother with all her heart. Enzo smiled in his sleep. Then Dot walked to the vidwindow that looked out over the city. There, in the distance, she could see the lights of the twincity. The two cities were joined together by the beautiful Gilded Gate Bridge. She could see it now, long and with a soft golden shine.  
Then, the lights from the twincity seemed to grow brighter. Dot frowned and looked at the city again. With a shock, she realized where the lights came from.

The Science Laboratories!

'Enzo!'

With a shock, Enzo awoke. He blinked and rubbed his eyes. 'What is it, Dot?' Dot was standing in front of the window, her eyes large and unbelieving, in terror. Enzo jumped from his bed and ran to the window. The light coming from the Labs had grown brighter, and as they looked, it made a pulse, and exploded.

Dot threw herself and her brother on the ground, while the sound of the blast reached their ears and small, hard fragments clattered against the window.

For a moment, the room filled with a bright light, then grew darker then ever.

Dot and Enzo reluctantly rose. Dot looked out of the window, afraid what she might see, or maybe not see.

She turned her eyes to the twincity. All the lights had gone. Only a large column of smoke rose from the place it had been.

The corners of her mouth began to tremble. A tear slid down her cheek.

Enzo extended her hand and took hers. Dot's legs started to tremble, and she fell on her knees on the floor.

'No! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'

  
  


Nobody had seen the portal open and close just before the explosion.

  


**To Be Continued....**

  


Some time ago, I saw AndrAIa and Nullzilla, and in both episodes they talk about the twincity and Dot and Enzo's father. But no one ever tells what really happened, or how the twincity looked or how it was joined to Mainframe.  
So I was thinking about it, and decided to write this. I just hope it worked out...

Indy, 28 November 1999


	2. Part ii

What Happened To The Twincity part ii

**What Happened To The Twin City, part ii**

A vidwindow appeared in Dot's bedroom. Dot and Enzo were still sitting there, with their arms around each other. Dot looked up when the vidwindow appeared. The city's executive secretary, an old sprite called Phong, was on screen. Dot had not met him very often before, maybe one or two times, but he always had a comforting way about him. At the moment, he was looking worried at the two young sprites, who sat trembling on the floor.  
'Dot, I think you heard the explosion?' Dot sniffed and wiped the tears from her eyes. 'Yes Phong, we did. Has happened what I think happened?' Phong inclined his head. 'I am afraid so, my child.'  
He looked at a screen at his left, and then looked back at Dot and Enzo. 'Would you two come to the Principal Office?' Dot nodded. 'Just give us a nano.'

At the very moment Dot wanted to knock on the door of Phong's Read Only Room, the door opened, and Phong was in the doorway. 'Ah, come in, children.' There were dozens of vidwindows open and active in the room. All showed CPU's, ambulances, all heading for or present in what was left of the twincity. Phong sighed. 'I have send out search- and rescue teams as soon as I could. I am afraid that there is not much we can save, though.'  
Another vidwindow opened, showing one of the commanders that had gone out to the twincity. 'Sir! I'm sorry to say that there is not much left of our twincity.' Phong nodded mutely. 'Do you have any visuals yet?' The commander nodded, and his face was replaced by dark, horrible images. They still heard his voice. 'There is only a small part left, and there are huge clouds of steam rising from the energysea.' The images on the vidwindow changed, and they could now see a huge column of steam rising. Phong looked at it closely. 'It seems to me that the explosion was quite a hot one that has struck quite a crater. I think the energy streaming in immediately evaporated. That would explain the steam.' The commander re-appeared on the vidwindow. 'The explosion also did some strange things to the sector left, Phong. Here, I've some other visuals.' Again his face disappeared, and this time the vidwindow showed the arc that stood just off the base of the Gilded Gate Bridge. A CPU approached it from one side, flew into it, and disappeared. The view shifted, zooming in. Then it quickly spun around, showing the disappeared CPU heading straight at the camera. The commander appeared again.  
'The entire thing seems distorted. One can go one way, and then all of a sudden be somewhere else completely.' Phong considered this. Then he nodded. 'Pull back from the sector, commander. Bring your men back to Mainframe, and make sure no-one can enter the disaster area.' The commander saluted crisply, and closed the vidwindow.

In the city, chaos ruled. Binomes were running though the city, hoping to find relatives and friends. Many were now, after the first moments of complete despair, and being stopped from entering what was left of the Twincity, heading for the Principal Office. Phong had decided to make a public announcement, to inform the citizens of what had happened, to comfort them and to ask their support. When he appeared on the public vidwindows, the binomes quieted down. The yelling, crying and screaming seized, and all of Mainframe hushed.

'Dear friends, citizens of Mainframe. No doubt you have all heard the explosion some nanos ago. Some of you might even have seen what has happened to our twincity. For those of you who haven't: a large explosion has deleted our twincity and all the sprites living there.'  
Phong paused for just a nano.  
'All that is left of our twincity is a small island at the other side of the Gilded Gate Bridge, which, from this moment on, is restricted area. It might be too dangerous to cross the bridge.  
I would like all the citizens present in Mainframe to report to the Principal Office, so that we know who have survived the disaster. I would also like to ask you not to cause problems for the ones guarding the Gilded Gate Bridge. They act at my orders and are only doing their jobs.  
Have faith, my friends. One cycle, all will be right again.'

Dot and Enzo were standing in Phong's Read Only Room, both looking kind of lost. Phong approached them, and put his hands on their shoulders. 'My children, I think we should go to see what is left of our twincity.' He paused for a nano and bowed his head. 'Although I think it is not much.'  
The three of them set out in the direction of the Gilded Gate Bridge, the link between the two cities. A thin layer of black dust covered the entire city and fragments of the material the people from the twincity build their houses with.  
Many sprites were on the streets, some talking to each other, some weeping with loss, other's seemingly too shocked to do anything. The corner of Dot's mouth started to tremble again, and tears appeared in her eyes. Enzo took her hand, and looked up to her, with a questioning look. 'Dot?' Dot sniffed. 'Yes Enzo?' 'Mum and Dad love us, don't they?' Dot nodded. She could not say anything; the lump in her throat was too big.

Within a few nanoseconds, Phong, Dot and Enzo reached the beginning of their side of the Gilded Gate Bridge. When they were allowed through the line of CPUs and binomes guarding the Gilded Gate, Dot felt tears coming up again, Enzo started to cry and Phong turned away his head.  
The once proud bridge was awfully twisted and horribly corrupted. The surface was twisted into lugubrious shapes, loops and corkscrews like in a giant roller-coaster.  
On the other end of the bridge lay only a small island. A small island was everything that was left of the once so proud twincity. Where the science labs, the sportssector and almost all of the systems livingquarters were, was only the energy sea, from which little clouds of steam were still rising. Energywaves gently lapped the shores of the island, which had been part of the LA sector. Only ruins were left of the living quarters that had been the highest buildings in the system.

Dot was fighting her tears while she spoke: 'I guess there is no chance Ferra and James have survived?' Phong turned his eyes to what was left of the twincity. 'I am afraid not, my child.' He paused. 'I would be surprised if anyone from the twincity has survived this blow.'  
At that moment, Enzo elbowed Dot in her side.  
'Dot, look! There!'  
Dot looked in the direction Enzo's outstretched finger indicated. At the base of the bridge crawled something. Enzo did not hesitate, but ran towards the crawling figure. Dot and Phong quickly followed him.  
Enzo had kneeled down beside the figure and was now stroking it. When Dot came closer, she could see the figure was an animal sprite. It was a dog, and although he was very dirty and apparently exhausted, he did not seem to be fatally injured. Now Enzo was stroking it, the dog softly snarled.  
'Enzo....' Dot started.  
'No, Dot, we have to take care of him! He's hurt!' Dot sighed.  
'All right.' She turned to Phong.  
'Could you contact the hospital, Phong?' The old sprite nodded.  
'Of course.'  
When he had contacted the veterinarian hospital, which was fortunately situated in Mainframe. Phong looked at the young woman sprite. He had done what she had asked, even without realising it. He shook his head. This sprite had exactly the same thing as her mother had had: she was a natural leader, and without thinking, she gave the right orders to the right sprites.

Soon the veterinarians arrived, and they took the dog with them on a stretcher-unit. Enzo gave his sister a begging look. Dot nodded. 'All right. You can go with him, but I want you to contact me as soon as possible.' Enzo happily nodded and stepped in the van, together with the two half sleeping binomes who had put the dog on a stretcher. They left the site, and Dot and Phong were left alone. Dot stood watching the bridge, it's golden shine gone, most of it replaced by a scorched black. Dot turned her head, and started to cry again. She felt Phong's hand on her shoulder, and began to cry even harder. Then she took a deep breath and sniffed one last time. With the tears still in her eyes, she looked at the old, wise sprite that was doing his best to try to comfort her. 'It was their fault, wasn't it?'

Dot was sitting in a chair in Phong's room in the Principal Office. She had calmed down a little and was now drinking a cup of tea. Her face was still sad, but she'd stopped crying. When Phong entered the room again, he had a blanket in his arms. He carefully draped it around the young sprite, and then sat down in a chair facing her. Dot gave him an empty, thankful look. Phong cleared his throat. 'Dot, I think it is only fair that you know what your parents have told me about the experiment.' Dot looked at him, her eyes incomprehensive.  
'What do you mean?'  
Phong cleared his throat again. 'Well, I think Ferra and James did not tell you that they knew how dangerous this experiment was.'  
Dot hadn't taken her eyes of him, and now her eyes were filled with fear.  
'Yes, my child, I am saying that your parents knew exactly that something could happen. I knew it, only we did not expect it to have such an impact.'  
Dot's vision became misty as her eyes filled with tears again.  
'They have killed themselves....' Dot's voice failed her.  
'NO! Don't you ever say that!' Phong had swiftly risen from his chair, and shook Dot up by her shoulders. When he realised what he was doing, he quickly released her.  
'No. Dot, Ferra and James died in an attempt to do something for the city. They knew what could happen, and still they chose to execute this experiment. There could have happened nothing, just as easily. And if it was anyone's fault, it should have been mine because I gave them permission to execute it. It wasn't their fault, Dot, and they did NOT kill themselves. Is that clear, my child?'  
Dot nodded, with tears in her eyes. 'But why didn't they tell us?'  
Phong bowed his head. He could not make an answer to that question.

The following morning, Dot woke in a room that was filled with bright sunlight. She opened her eyes, still not fully awake yet. Her head felt cloudy, and with her eyes half closed, she stepped out of bed. Only then she realised that she was not in her own room. It was much smaller, and the window was in an other place. Dot looked around, and saw that above the door was the picture of an icon, surrounded by the words "Principal Office". Phong must have entered her in one of the rooms in the Principal Office. She stretched the muscles in her neck and back. Then she tapped her icon, and was immediately dressed. Dot took a quick look at herself in the mirror, before she walked out the door.

Enzo was already sitting with Phong in Phong's Read Only Room. He was excitedly talking about the dog they found last night. Enzo had gone with him to the Veterinarian Hospital, and had watched, and helped, while the binomes washed, fed and treated him. To Enzo's delight, the dog snarled at everyone, except him. For a while, Dot sat listening to Enzo's story with only a half ear, when suddenly she heard one sentence very clear:  
'They all say it is his fault.'  
Dot sprang up. 'No, it's not! You know he was only doing it because he thought it was best! You know he wouldn't do anything to hurt our cities on purpose!'  
Enzo jumped up, too. 'It is! He knew it could be dangerous! Phong told me. If it wasn't for Dad and his stupid experiment, the twincity, and the Labs and Robin, all my friends and everything would still exist!'  
Enzo turned and ran out of the room. Dot fell back in her chair, shocked. She hadn't even thought about all the animalsprites in the sportssector, or the numerous workstations at the Labs. But her brother was right. All those were lost as well. A sudden feeling of hopelessness surged through her. She closed her eyes and gave a deep sigh.  
'Oh Phong, how can I ever forget what he's done?'

Not long after, Phong decided to make another announcement. Although he had assigned sprites that night to continually inform the residents of Mainframe, he felt he should reassure them himself. So when noon came to the city, he sighed and opened the public vidwindows. Again, Mainframe hushed.

'Dear friends. For all of you who had not yet heard, cause of the explosion was an accident in the Science Labs, due to an experiment that I prescribed.'  
The old sprite looked around the city with a strict look on his face. It was a warning for anyone who blamed James Matrix for the accident. An unNetly quiet descended upon the Mainframes.  
'From this moment on, the disaster area will no longer be restricted. You must be warned, however, that reality in the LA-sector is severely distorted. Going there would not be wise, but I do not want to forbid you going there. If you decided to go, I can only warn you to take care.  
Tomorrow, we will have an extensive service in the Assembly Hall in the Principal Office. After that, we will discuss what we must do to get our city processing again. Have faith, friends. We will get going again, and one day everything will be right again.'

Phong closed the windows and turned to Dot, who was sitting on top of his desk. 'I'm just worried about Enzo. Only the User knows what he is doing, and where!' Phong gave her a reassuring pat on her leg.  
'Do not worry, my child. He will come back when he has worked things through.'

That night, Dot slept in her own apartment again. At least, she tried to. It was already in the middle of the night, and Enzo still hadn't returned. She had called Phong several times, but after the fifth time had had promised her he would call her as soon as he heard from Enzo.  
Dot resolutely swung her legs over the rim of the bed, rose, tapped her Icon and left her apartment. She couldn't sleep anyway, so why not take a walk?

Enzo was sitting on a bench in Floating Point Park. At his feet was the dog they had found at the base of the Gilded Gate Bridge. He swung his legs to and fro, while he thoughtfully looked into the distance. He could not believe that his parents were gone. Already a whole cycle had gone by without them. Without the loving smile of his mother. Without the warm embrace of his father, and his dark, sparkling eyes.  
Enzo rubbed his eyes and shivered. Nights were getting cold, and here he was, in the middle of the night, on a hard bench in a windy park. The dog, which, now he was cleaned up, was red and gold coloured, gave him a puzzled look. He made a questioning sound, put his front feet on the bench, next to Enzo, and softly wagged his tail. Enzo stroked his head.  
'I know, Frisket. We should be home, with Dot, sleeping.' He sighed. 'Warm in bed.'  
Frisket made a soft whimper and wagged his tail again. Then, all of a sudden, he turned his head and started to snarl. Enzo looked up, and saw a lost figure walking through the park. The figure was unmistakably a woman, a young woman, and for only a moment Enzo thought he saw his mother walking through the chilly park. Only when the young sprite walked underneath a lamppost, he saw his mistake. Despite the fact that the sprite had similar features in the dark, she did not have the gold and red colour his mother had. This sprite's skin was green, and her hair black.  
It was his sister.

'DOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'

Dot looked up when she heard her name. She was happily surprised when she saw her little brother running towards her. Following close behind was the dog they had found at the bridge the night before.  
'Dot!'  
Enzo now cried while he was running, and when he had reached Dot, he flung his arms around her and sobbed uncontrollably. Dot hugged him tight and kissed him on his head.  
'Hush now. Enzo, it's all right. It's gonna be okay.'  
'No...' Enzo turned up his nose and looked his sister in the eyes.  
'How can it be okay when we have no parents?'  
Dot gently stroked his head. 'We'll be all right. I'll take care of you, and together we'll pull through.'  
Enzo still looked at her. Now his eyes were thoughtful, while he was processing what Dot had just said. Then he nodded, earnestly. 'You are right.' His eyelids nearly dropped.  
'Dot, I am so tired...'  
'Then go to sleep, Enzo. I'll take care of you.'  
Dot lifted him up, and with his head on his sister's shoulder and his arms around her neck, Enzo peacefully fell asleep. For just a nano, Dot looked down on his face, smiling. Then she got her organiser from her pocket and contacted the Principal Office.  
'Phong? I found him.'

A soft mumbling filled the Great Assembly Hall in the Principal Office. All the binomes that were left in Mainframe had come together for the extensive service Phong had announced the cycle before.  
Binomes were dressed in black, and there was no sprite that hadn't had red rims around his or her eyes.  
Dot and Enzo had a place near the centre of the hall. Phong had told then that morning, after he had received the results from the sprite report, that they were the only two Data sprites left in the city. All the others were binomes. Since most of the Data sprites had lived in the twincity, this was only a logic cause, but Dot and Enzo felt only more lost by it.  
Now they sat quietly in the Assembly hall, tightly holding on to each other's hands. Dot wore a long black dress, and she had forced Enzo to wear black trousers and a shirt. Dot looked at her little brother, who was looking around. He had never been in the Assembly hall.  
'Enzo.' Dot whispered.  
Enzo looked up to her, and smiled. She saw the tears in his eyes, and gave a soft squeeze in his hand. For just a moment, they looked into each other's eyes. Then Phong appeared in the centre of the Assembly Hall, and they turned their attention to him.

'My dear friends.  
We have gathered here today to have a service for our friends that have been deleted when the twincity exploded. Before anything else, I would like to read out an old Read-Me file that has been used before in situations like these:

"Living is embracing datasprites and binomes  
Only to let go  
To let them grow and blossom  
In our memory." '

For a few nanos all was quiet in the Assembly Hall. Most of the binomes had tears in their eyes, and some were softly crying. Dot sniffed and gave Enzo's hand a small squeeze. Then Phong continued speaking:

'A friend of mine has advised me something, and, led by that advise, I have decided to place a monument for the deleted sprites. I do not know where yet, but I hope to get some suggestions from you. My dear friends, I would like to call for a few nanoseconds of quiet, for us all to remember the deleted ones.'

Again, everything grew quiet. Dot's thoughts went to the afternoon before the destruction of the twincity. She had been out swimming with her mother, and they had discussed her future. Ferra had always wanted her to get a better education and then to get a job in the Labs or so. She had not wanted that, she'd wanted to see something of the Net. At least, after her Diner had started to run properly.  
But now it seemed she'd never come beyond Mainframe. With her parents gone, she'd have to take care of Enzo, make sure he got a proper education and that he want to a good school and all those things more. She sighed, and then her attention was again drawn by Phong, who started to speak again:

'Although grieve for our lost friends and loved ones is still fresh in our hearts, it is my opinion we should try to move on. Already a cycle has passed without the sprites that lived in the twincity, and we have survived it. Tears are important, but we must make sure that by the mourning for our lost friends, we are not lost ourselves. We must try to adept Mainframe to the needs of every day live, which means we have to build things in Mainframe that before lay in the twincity. With that I mean the things as new Labs, in time a new sportssector and most of all more livingquarters. To me, it seems best that we build these things inside the Principal Office, so that it will become the new centre of daily activities.  
I hope you all support me on this and that you will help me to rebuilt Mainframe.  
Go with faith, my friends. Some cycle, all will be right again, and the painful memories of the last cycle will have faded.'

The binomes got up, and slowly the Assembly Hall emptied. Dot and Enzo stayed seated until most sprites were gone, then slowly walked out of the building, towards Dot's Diner. Enzo reached for Dot's hand.  
'Dot?'  
'What is it?'  
'I will never forget Mum and Dad.'  
'Neither will I Enzo. Wherever I am, I will always remember them.'

**THE END**

Of course you all know that this is not really the end, but merely the beginning. From this point on, one cycle Megabyte and Hexadecimal will enter Mainframe, and of course Bob's going to show up some day. Maybe there'll be a day I'll write about that too. (As a matter of fact, I've already started to write about the cycle Megabyte in modemed into Mainframe)  
For now, I think I haven't done a bad job on the twincity...  
Indy, 3 December 1999

** May 16, 2001 **  
I have thought some time about rewriting this, mainly because I do not like to re-write things once I have finished them. This story about the twincity however, screamed for a re-write because of the things that happened in my hometown a year ago.  
I live in Enschede, the Netherlands, and a year ago, may 13 2000 to be exact, a fireworks-depot located in the centre of a neighbourhood exploded. The entire neighbourhood was either blasted away or destroyed, and in a mile radius houses were damaged. Over a thousand people were wounded, and 22 were killed. All in all, my view of the destruction of the twincity, especially the moments after, the information of the residents, the rescue teams, has changed quite a bit. That is why I decided to re-write, because I came to the conclusion that the real thing was pretty different from what I'd written.  
Indy


End file.
